


Vidia Beyond the Dragon's Breath

by GoblinCatKC



Category: Disney Fairies
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-03 22:37:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5309633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoblinCatKC/pseuds/GoblinCatKC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the dragon Kyto escapes his prison, Queen Clarion knows the fairy to help save Neverland. But will Vidia help when to do so means risking her life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Disney Fairies belong to the Mouse, not to me.  
> Note: This is written to emulate the style of the Disney Fairies book. I don't usually pull punches in terms of injury or death, but any here will be decidedly off-screen.

Second star to the right, and on 'till morning. Fly until your wings grow tired and your eyes sting from the wind, and you'll arrive at Neverland, home to mermaids, fairies, pirates and dragons. And in the center of it all, or at least as near to the center as the island likes on that particular day, stands Pixie Hollow.

Every fairy and sparrow man has a talent. Some are pots-and-pans talents like Tinkerbell, and some are cooking talent fairies like Dulcie. Some are light talent fairies like Fira. Some are fast fliers. And one very special fairy, Prilla, is the only mainland visiting clapping talent fairy on the whole island.

In a neighboring tree, Mother Dove keeps careful watch over her many fairies and sparrow men, always tending the egg in her nest. If it were to crack, the magic would leave Neverland, time would return, and the belief of childhood would fade away.

Mother Dove's egg did shatter, once. But this is not that story. This is the story of the dragon Kyto, Queen Clarion, and the fairy who once flew faster than thought, and was determined to earn that speed again...

Chapter One

Every morning as the sun came up, the dust talent fairies measured out the daily rations of fairy dust for the use of all Pixie Hollow while the cooking talent fairies prepared breakfast. Scout talent fairies took up positions to watch the sky for hawks. And in the royal chambers, Queen Clarion rose to begin her day, helped by a handful of attendant fairies.

In one tree over, Mother Dove woke up and checked on her egg. Once assured that it was safe, she ruffled her feathers and noticed a bit of down drift onto her nest. Like any feather that fell from her, one of the fairies with her scooped it up to be put with the others. Mother Dove's feathers provided the fairy dust that allowed everyone in Pixie Hollow to fly. Her own fairy companions were always busy tending to her needs, and one of those was safeguarding those feathers from thieves. Or one thief, rather.

Away from Pixie Hollow, away from Mother Dove, a solitary fairy resided deep within a sour plum tree. The hum of wings from the other fairies didn't carry to comfortable niche she had found for herself. Vidia preferred her own company.

Fastest of the fast flying talent fairies, Vidia never walked if she could fly. As she did every morning, first she flew down to the river to wash up, then whirled around the forest to loosen up her wings. Her purple clothing with soft brown leaf accents let her blend with the shadows and underside of the forest, but more importantly it clung to her body. Her leggings didn't catch on the breeze like the skirts of the other fairies.

After her trip around the forest, which never took long, she landed on a thorny blackberry bush, careful that her wings didn't catch on the sharp edges. A single blackberry was a good sized breakfast for a fairy, but she had to be careful never to eat more than she needed. Too much would leave her too heavy to fly faster than the breeze. She left it half-finished.

Her flight to Pixie Hollow took her by Mother Dove's tree, but she didn't stop. She wasn't allowed in Mother Dove's presence. She had once plucked ten feathers from her, and nearly connived her way to ten more before she'd been discovered. Feathers stolen rather than patiently harvested at the yearly molt provided the best dust for flying. Vidia called it fresh dust and jealously guarded her own supply of it. Its power gave her wings greater lift, her body less drag.

No one else had come closer than Vidia to being banished from Pixie Hollow. No one else had her impatient and aggressive disposition. Although she'd been falsely accused of stealing the Queen's crown, she knew it was more because of her previous thefts and her ill nature that she had nearly lost her place entirely amongst the fairies.

Because of this, her presence in the royal chambers always surprised Queen Clarion's attendants. When she landed upon the balcony of the queen's chambers, the attendants all fluttered out, flustered and complaining. Vidia was always amused. It was their own fault. She did this every year, the day before autumn. As usual, she waited on the balcony and watched the fairies fly through the air below.

"Hello, Vidia."

Ah, there was that maddening familiar voice. Vidia put on her most sugary smile but did not give her the courtesy of turning around. Unthinkable for any other fairy. Only Vidia could be so disrespectful to the queen, though no one knew why but Vidia and Clarion.

"Your majesty," Vidia said, her voice dripping with insincere honey. "How are you this morning?"

"Well enough. And you?" Clarion closed the door behind herself and walked to the table in the center of the room. The flower talent fairies had made a gift of nectar to her, and she uncorked the bottle and poured herself a glass. It was early in the day, but to deal with Vidia before autumn, she needed that nectar.

"Good enough to race." Now Vidia turned around but came no closer, instead sitting on the balcony railing. Her smile turned cold in her eyes. "A shame there's no one in this whole forest who might give me a challenge."

Clarion closed her eyes and downed her glass. As much as she dreaded this day, Clarion would not dismiss Vidia today for all the gold in the world and they both knew it. "Yes. It's a shame. But at least you know you're the fastest."

Vidia's smile faded. "Yes. Uncontested."

An awkward silence followed. Clarion followed it as part of the script. As uncomfortable as she was, she would not have thought of ordering Vidia out. Who knew what the temperamental fairy might do then?

"So!" Vidia started a few minutes later, as cheerful as if her ill humor had never settled on her. "Does her majesty require any service from her fastest flying fairy? Messages to deliver? Gifts to distant kings?"

"A few messages," Clarion answered. "Probably more as the day goes on."

She picked up a few slips of paper and went over to the balcony, standing at arm's reach. When she offered the slips of paper, Vidia took them gently, letting her hand brush Clarion's for a moment. Their eyes met for an instant, and for that instant Clarion lost her anxiety, Vidia lost her irritation.

But only for a moment. A few seconds after that, Vidia had memorized the messages and let the paper cascade from her fingertips to the floor in a little pile. Without a word, she turned and flew off, turning the corner so as to disappear faster.

Clarion sighed and leaned on the balcony railing, staring at the sky. Her attendants, sensing that the other fairy was gone, came in with a rush of chatter and hands that put away her nectar glass, cleaned up the paper, and straightened the folds of her dress where the breeze from Vidia's flight had disturbed them.

Hands and noise. Her world had both shrunk and expanded when she accepted the crown. She stared at the sky and the cool breeze that ruffled the leaves. How long had it been since she'd flown as fast as she could on the wind? Years and years and years, this autumn.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Vidia's first stop was the bakery, to place Clarion's order for hundreds of different types of pastries. The scout talent fairies and sparrowmen had done a wonderful job of alerting to hawks and protecting Pixie Hollow, and the queen wanted to give a banquet for them in thanks.

Then a stop with the Minister of each season to request headcounts of all the fairies in their retinues. Fairies who died of disbelief simply faded and disappeared, and as cold hearted as it felt, the queen had to know how many fairies they would not have to prepare for the seasons.

Finally she was off to find Fawn, a forest talent fairy. That meant Vidia had to scour the whole forest for her, but she started in a circle around the Home Tree and flew wider and wider circles until she spotted her near the root of an oak tree, cutting a fellow fairy free from an old spiderweb. It was slow work. Every time Fawn cut free a wing or a foot, the other fairy stumbled and tangled up again while trying to balance herself.

Vidia quickly lost her patience and swooped down just as Fawn sliced a wing free. Without any warning, Vidia grabbed the trapped fairy's hand and yanked her forward, ignoring the sudden yelp of pain. Beneath her, Fawn drowned it out with her own cry of triumph as she slashed the last tenacious strands and darted away before they could snag her, too.

"Finally!" Fawn said, turning around. "Thank yo--oh. Vidia. Um, thanks."

"Don't get so excited, dear," Vidia said. She dropped the fairy she was holding, who fortunately landed on a soft leaf. "The Queen needs a guide for when she visits the gloworms next week, and she wants you to lead her entourage."

"Huh?" Fawn asked. Her eyes widened at being called to royal service, especially one she'd never heard about.

"Oh, I forgot, darling, you're a recent arrival." Vidia made it sound like an insult. "When Queen Clarion travels through the forest, she needs an animal talent fairy at the front to warn off silly creatures who get in her way. Quite tedious, I'm afraid."

But Fawn didn't pay attention to Vidia's taunt. Trying to imagine how to keep the queen safe from animals like bears or foxes or hawks, Fawn fell silent and flew into the air, drifting thoughtfully to the Home Tree. She called another "thank you" over her shoulder, but Vidia was watching the fairy she'd dropped.

"Prilla dear," she said, hovering over her. "I thought you'd been here long enough to know not to get stuck in a spider's web."

Still straightening her leaf dress, Prilla turned and smiled up at her. Prilla was the only fairy in Pixie Hollow who didn't mind Vidia's attitude or who didn't dread seeing her approach. She'd helped Vidia find Queen Clarion's crown when it went missing, and she was the only one who'd believed that she hadn't stolen it. And Prilla felt a strange sort of camaraderie with the only other fairy in Pixie Hollow who didn't quite fit in.

"I couldn't help it," Prilla said. "I was visiting the mainland playing with clumsy children and when I cartwheeled back, I couldn't stop. I'm lucky Fawn and you came by."

"Luckier than you realize," Vidia snapped. "Hawks aren't the only creatures that eat fairies. Spiders love catching us in their webs."

"It won't happen again," Prilla said. "I hope. Um, why did you stop here anyway? Usually it's just the animal talent fairies that come this far out. Oh! Were you flying around Neverland racing dragonflies?"

Vidia gave a toss of her head. "There isn't a dragonfly on this island that can keep up with me. I was delivering messages for Clarion."

"The Queen?" Prilla breathed. "But I thought only message talent fairies did that."

"Special messages get sent by me," Vidia said.

"And today's special?"

Several seconds passed before Vidia answered, and her look slipped from Prilla's face to the ground below. Other fairies would have grown worried and asked what was wrong. Prilla knew better and waited.

"It was," Vidia said softly. "Once."

Memories flashed before her, the sound of laughter flying at her side, wings brushing against her own, clouds cut apart as she sliced through and a night spent gazing at the moon, the glow of another fairy pushing away the shadows.

Tonight she would sit alone in her sour plum tree and her dust would give off only enough glow to create shadows.

"Don't tumble into anymore webs you can't get out of yourself," Vidia said as she turned to go. "We won't always be there."

"Vidia?"

But the older fairy was already halfway to the clouds by the time Prilla started to say her name. She broke through the clouds and hung in the air for a moment, shielding her eyes from the cold sun.

Up in the atmosphere, frost accumulated on her clothes and her wings. She fluttered them fast to break them free, then darted back down the ground to gain speed. Neverland rose towards her, growing until she saw the vast fields of sunflowers of Pixie Hollow, saw the fields expand to rows of flowers, saw the petals on each flower.

A few garden talent fairies spotted her dive and watched, knowing she would pull out and still fascinated. Only inches from the sunflowers, Vidia spun and forced herself to fly over them, leaving a trail of stirred pollen in her wake. She reached the edge of the field in just a few seconds and plunged into the forest with reckless abandon, dodging trees that appeared in a blur. A moment later she was out of the forest and skimming over the lagoon, sending up a spray after her. Startled mermaids slid off their rocks into the blue waters, forgetting jeweled combs that sparkled as Vidia passed by.

Captain Hook's ship lay anchored just outside the lagoon. Vidia raced up the anchor chain and along the deck, tipping over a lantern as she went. It crashed on the deck and shattered, bringing up pirates who never noticed her as she flew away.

Over the ocean, skirting the coast, she circled Neverland until she came to the mountains. She hesitated at the foot of the tallest, not sure if she wanted to fly so close, but the alternative was an easy cut across the rest of the island that would let her mind wander.

Right now she wanted a difficult flight that would command all of her attention. She began to ascend, passing sharp stones and rocky crevasses. Pebbles tumbled down the cliff face beside her and she swerved hard to one side, avoiding the rock slide before it came too close.

The trip over the mountains added more than an hour to her flight. By now the sun was beginning its slow descent to the horizon. It would be a hard push to make it home before nightfall, and she would be tired enough to fall asleep immediately.

No one could have kept pace with her now. Fastest of the fast fliers, she knew her wings were fraying again, their edges tearing as she pushed them harder. The cold wind numbed her and invigorated her at the same time, forcing her to the edge of her endurance while taking the sting from her sore shoulders. But it couldn't do more than take away the physical hurts.

Her heart ached, yearning for the infinite speed she'd once tasted. She would never use a wand to wish for it again, preferring instead to earn it through her own efforts, but she remembered what it felt like to pass the earth so fast that she nearly tore herself apart. When she could have flown so fast that a stray whisper would have shred her to pieces.

By the time she reached Pixie Hollow again, night had fallen. Garden talent fairies were closing themselves up in their flowers. Scout sparrow men descended to the lower branches of the nearby trees, no longer worrying about hawks but keeping an eye out for owls. The Home Tree was lit up with a thousand lights and dark silhouettes of fairies could be seen leaving the main banquet hall. At first Vidia thought to skip dinner, but she'd skipped lunch and her body was beginning to tremble. Sighing, she headed for the Home Tree, slowing down as she approached.

A few sleepy fairies were startled as she zipped by, and she landed on the windowsill to look around before she entered. She was later than she realized. Most of the fairies still awake were light talents who kept the tree lit for the art talents and the tinker talents who were too lost in their work to sleep and for those fairies who worked at night, like the animal talents who worked with fireflies.

She stepped into the hall and looked over the buffet spread, picking out a few leftover tarts. Very little was left, most of which she didn't like--milk cream, chocolate and raspberry, quince--but she didn't want to leave without at least a bite. She looked for a plum or a crabapple tart, but there were none to be found.

"Vidia! Over here!"

Startled,Vidia looked over her shoulder and found Prilla sitting in the corner with a tray of pastries in front of her. She waved to make sure Vidia saw her. Knowing everyone else in the room was watching, Vidia flew over and sat down.

"You look tired," Prilla said, pushing her plate over. "Where'd you fly today?"

"Across the island," Vidia said.

She would have snapped back with a sarcastic quip if anyone else had mentioned it, but then no one else would have asked her so earnestly. Prilla didn't seem to know what sarcasm was, although she certain understood Vidia whenever she used it.

Vidia spotted a plum tart on the edge of the plate and scooped it up with a nod. Much better than a milk cream tart, and there was even a leaf goblet of water here for her.

She took a drink before she wondered why it was there at all.

"Were you waiting for someone?" she asked.

Prilla shrugged one shoulder. "Kind of. I didn't know when you were going to be back, so I got a couple extra just in case."

"Really?" Vidia raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, I figured since everyone saw you take off earlier, you'd be gone for awhile. And then Peaseblossom, one of the queen's attendants, mentioned you'd visited the queen and..." Her voice trailed off when she saw Vidia's look darken. "And she said you looked kind of upset."

Vidia bit back her reply. Gossip spread like wildfire in the Home Tree. Perhaps she should be grateful no one but Clarion knew why she'd visited at all.

"Flying takes my mind off of things," she said simply. "Especially over the mountains."

"The mountains?" Prilla echoed, her eyes growing wide. "You mean where Kyto is?"

"I didn't fly close to him," Vidia said. "At least...no, I flew under his cage. I remember. There was a rock slide nearby."

Although their talents and temperaments were vastly different, Vidia and Prilla had been part of the team chosen by Mother Dove to journey to the Kyto's lair. Trapped in his cage in the side of the mountain, Kyto was a terrible dragon who survived by breathing deep and drawing in any birds or hapless fairy that flew too close. He lay on a meager horde of gold and jewels, and every now and then his growls rumbled through Neverland.

"Maybe that's why there was a rock slide," Vidia mused. "Kyto was restless."

Prilla looked down at the table. "I wonder what that's like, being locked up for years and years in a place so small you can't move."

At first Vidia was going to mention that Kyto was too dangerous to feel any sympathy for him, but as she thought about it, the more Prilla's comment felt like it wasn't meant for the dragon. She no longer felt trapped, but there had been a time long ago when she had felt more cramped up than Kyto probably did.

"You know you don't have to live in the Home Tree, right?" Vidia asked. "You could make your own home somewhere nearby. Might be smart to build it now before more of your own kind of talents here."

"Oh, I couldn't live alone," Prilla said. "It's...it's bad enough being the only one of my talent. If I left...I mean, it's not like we know for sure that there'll be more of my talent anyway."

Vidia couldn't argue. She didn't bring up the fact that she didn't stay with her fellow fast fliers. All of her talent were competitive and preferred to keep to themselves, impatient with the slower fairies, but she had long ago grown sick of their obstacle courses and little races through the flowers, of serving Clarion when she called, of living in the sprawling branches so close to Clarion's chambers that if she looked out, they might see each other through the window.

"What's worse," Vidia suddenly asked, "being alone, or being alone in a crowd?"

Silence. Prilla finished her last tart and finished her water. For a moment neither of them spoke, the same thoughts in their heads.

"I know I have too much clumsy in me," Prilla whispered. "Even if there were more of my talent, it still wouldn't feel right. I travel alone to the mainland. We'd only meet here to compare stories, maybe. I mean, you have others in your talent, and...well..."

"You've been alone too long," Vidia said. "With your own thoughts, separated from everyone else. It does things to you."

"Really?"

Vidia nodded. "Did you know, once upon a time, I used to live with my talent? I never left the hollow. My friend and I were inseparable."

"What happened?" Prilla asked, already guessing the answer.

"Disbelief," Vidia said in a flat tone. "She died of disbelief."

Not trusting her voice, she stood and flew out again. She knew Prilla wouldn't try to call her back. In the back of her mind, she knew that Prilla was slowly working her way into the part of Vidia's heart that had been closely guarded for so long. If she wasn't careful, Vidia knew she would be left vulnerable to that same ache, all too vulnerable if Prilla was wrong and new mainland visiting clapping talent fairies arrived and took her away. Pixie Hollow was wonderful at taking things away, and only Vidia seemed to notice.

She arrived in her dark sourplum tree and spared a few seconds to wash at her basin. When all the grime and dirt of flight had been cleansed, she lay down in bed, watching her glow fade against the walls. As tired as she was, she didn't fall asleep fast enough. Regret swirled in her soul like a whirlwind.

"Why couldn't you believe?" she wondered as her eyes closed. "You don't have to live the way that you're told. Clarion..."

And like she did every year on that night, she cried herself to sleep.

In the distance, the mountain continued to rumble.

tbc...


	3. Chapter 3

At sunrise the next day, the last of the firefly lighters, insomniac tinkerers, and moonflower gardeners slipped into bed, pulled up their petal blankets and fell asleep. Only the earliest fairies were awake. Dulcie gathered the eggs and flour and spices for the morning's omelets, Iris rubbed sleep from her eyes and collected the sun's first rays, and Rosetta flew through a yawn as she rose, heading to the Home Tree for a pick-me-up cocoa before work.

The first sign that anything was wrong was an explosion felt across the island.

The sound was like thunder in their heads, and a shockwave followed in its wake. In Tinker's Nook, tools fell off shelves and delicate machinery came apart. Water talent fairies slipped off lilypads into Havendish stream and had to flounder towards shore. Fawn and other animal talents were bowled over by a stampede startled mice, raccoons and squirrels.

Shocked out of sleep, Vidia rocketed outside of her sour plum tree before she knew what she was doing. Catching her breath, she looking wildly around for the source of the thunder fading away. The Home Tree was all right. The flowers in their fields were all right, if askew from fairies leaping up to see what was wrong. Farther away, the mermaid lagoon rippled as the last mermaid fled into the deep. She thought perhaps the gunpowder in Captain Hook's ship had exploded, but even from Pixie Hollow she heard him yelling frantic orders to crew racing across the deck.

A piece of dirt flew by her head. She looked up and dodged a larger clump, but smaller pebbles rained down from the sky and pelted her like meteorites. Racing under her tree's leaves, she peeked towards the source of the dirt.

Kyto's mountain--

She shook her head in disbelief. Kyto had been imprisoned for as long as she had been in Neverland. But now his mountain held a deep gouge, blackened by fire, and the Never Bim tree roots lay closed over an empty nook.

A shadow passed over the sun. She looked up and saw his dark outline passing through the sky, his wings tattered from struggling, his tail kinked from centuries at an awkward angle.

With a roar that made her curl up in fright, Kyto turned and dove straight down into the mermaid lagoon. Water exploded up hundreds of feet and crashed down again, and then the lagoon was still.

Bathing, she realized. Kyto is taking a bath after all those years, to get the smell off.

But he wouldn't stay in the lagoon forever. When he came out, all his hate and anger and vengeance would pour down on Neverland. On Pixie Hollow. Dragon flame would engulf everything.

Her first thought was to fly to Clarion and find out what they would do. Then she thought of Prilla and knew she had to find her first. Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, she raced toward the Home Tree.

To her surprise, the Home Tree was already swarmed by fairies. Those who were awake pounded on windows and doors, or flew inside their friends' rooms and dragged them out of bed. But when Vidia went to Prilla's room, it was empty.

No--she shook her head. It shouldn't be empty. Prilla should be there. Prilla had waited up late for her. She should still be asleep. Panic stung her, and she looked under the bed to make sure Prilla hadn't hidden there. Nothing.

She opened the door that led to the trunk, but the hall was filled with fairies flying in all directions. She couldn't hope to fly through that. Biting off her curse, she flew out the window again and hovered on the edge of the cloud around the tree, looking into the crowd for Prilla's pink dress and red hair.

It was impossible, like looking for a petal in a field of flowers. There were too many fairies flying, skimming across Havendish stream, carrying fairies knocked senseless by falling pebbles and stones. Her stomach knotted up and she looked over her shoulder at the lagoon. Kyto had come out of the water and lay stretched under the waterfall, shaking years of grime off his wings.

There was blood in the water.

Vidia pressed her hand to her mouth, but she didn't let herself give into her feelings. There was no time for sympathy for the mermaids. The fairies wouldn't even make a mouthful for him. He would simply flame them down, leaving ashes that sparkled in the sunlight.

A flash of white caught her eye. Clarion flew in the midst of the chaos, sending the ministers off to try to organize her subjects. Her attendant fairies huddled behind her, holding her crown and a few ancient treasures of Pixie Hollow.

Vidia flew down to her just as the ministers disappeared. Clarion turned to her with wide, frightened eyes.

"Vidia, what are you doing here?" she said. "Go find Rani and Brother Dove. They'll need you to help lead the way."

"'Lead the way'," Vidia echoed. "Where are we going?"

"You didn't hear?" one of the attendants said. "We're going to the mainland."

Another one of them nodded. "We can hide there until Kyto stops."

Stops? Frowning in confusion, Vidia stared at them, then looked up at Clarion. She couldn't be serious. Clarion couldn't possibly believe they'd be safe on the mainland. As dangerous as Neverland was, there were a thousand more ways to die, to be eaten, to vanish and never be seen again on the mainland.

"No," she whispered. "No. That won't work."

"Vidia," Clarion said warningly. "Do not argue with me. Not now. I know what you're thinking, but it isn't forever, just 'till Kyto stops--"

"He'll never stop," Vidia said, her voice still shaking. "His hate kept him alive all these years. He won't stop until it's all burned down. There'll be nothing to come back to."

"Then we'll live on the mainland," Clarion insisted. "We'll be safe there."

Behind her, Clarion felt her attendants edging together and whispering, nursing each other's fear. If she didn't send all of her fairies on, and soon, the fear could turn into terror and she would never be able to get them under control again. They would die flying in circles under Kyto's breath.

"Kyto will follow us," Vidia argued. Anger made her stronger. She glared at Clarion as her fists clenched. "We have to stop him now. We have to trap him again--"

"No one remembers how!" Clarion yelled, losing her temper. She grabbed Vidia's arm and yanked her close, staring her in the eye. "Even if we did, it was hundreds of humans who trapped him there. Not one little fairy. Now get to Rani and prepare to lead us to the mainland."

Vidia's breath hitched. Clarion's fury made her wings spark and the wind around them swirled as her talent flared. The sight brought a distant memory to mind of the last time Clarion had lost her temper, the night she had accepted the crown and left Vidia and forgot about racing, living a life of managing the fairies and riding in carriages.

Closing her eyes, Vidia turned her head. She didn't want to see Clarion's face. She couldn't bear hearing her mad. Nodding once, she flew backwards when the queen let her go.

"You will help Rani," Clarion said, breathing deep as her anger faded. "And obey her commands as if I gave them."

Silent, Vidia turned and flew away, ignoring Clarion's cry when she headed in the wrong direction. She had to go home first.

She had to fly against the current of fairies coming from the fields as well. There were only a handful of stragglers left, but they increased her sense of urgency. Scant minutes were left before the entire hollow would head for the mainland. She put on a burst of speed, passing the thistles surrounding her sour plum tree.

"Vidia! I knew you'd come back!"

Relief washed through her at seeing Prilla hovering by the swinging doors of her home. Her wings hummed nervously, her hat lay askew, but she smiled broadly. Vidia smiled back, then scowled. Not slowing down, she grabbed Prilla's hand and dragged her inside, all but tossing her on the bed.

"Why would you fly here?" she snapped. "You should be with the rest of the fairies about to go."

"Sorry," Prilla said as she sat up, but she didn't look sorry. "I couldn't leave without you. I didn't know if you were hurt or couldn't fly, and I had to know you knew we were going. Besides, I can go to the mainland any time."

Ignoring her logic, Vidia knelt at the foot of the bed and opened her trunk. A pouch of fresh dust lay within, and she tied it to her belt for safekeeping. As she stood, she looked around for anything else to salvage. She felt a little sad to leave Bess' painting behind, but it was a luxury she couldn't afford.

Grabbing Prilla's hand again, she headed back across the sunflower field, pulling Prilla as fast as she could. The fairies were all in groups by talent, calling out names to find each other. At the very front, Vidia came to a stop by Rani who was climbing on Brother Dove's back.

"Prilla will fly with you," Vidia said, shoving her forward. "So you don't fall--"

"--off," Rani finished for her. She knew that Vidia didn't care about her, just about giving Prilla the first spot in the evacuation, but she didn't argue. "Okay. Let's go."

At her signal, Brother Dove spread his wings. Behind them, the air hummed as every fairy took off at once. Vidia led the way for a moment, then flew to the side to make sure everyone was coming in a steady stream. She returned to Rani's side, then flew ahead to see that the way was clear.

No one complained about her leaving Rani's side so often. Vidia looked less like a fairy and more like a dark purple blur as she flew circles around everyone. If a sleepy fairy drifted off course, she blew them back with a forceful wind that chilled them and woke them up.

As she looped down to the middle of the stream, she spotted Clarion helping dozens of fairies carry Mother Dove's nest. Vidia hesitated. She wasn't supposed to be anywhere near Mother Dove. Clarion was already angry. She didn't want her yelling again in front of everyone.

Then she shrugged and flew down towards her. She couldn't very well pluck a feather right now. The fairies eyed her suspiciously, but Mother Dove made no protest, too busy holding her egg still.

"Vidia--" Clarion started.

"I know you're all slowpokes," Vidia said, but for once she wasn't being sarcastic. "But you have to go faster. You're barely going faster than the breeze."

"I know," Clarion groaned. "But we can't. Even if we weren't carrying Mother Dove, it takes time to move everyone."

Vidia wrung her hands, staring at the line as if she could will it to speed up. Every fairy was a glowing star against the pale blue sky.

"He's going to see us," she whispered. "Any minute now he's going to see us and--"

Below them, Kyto roared.

Whirling, Clarion left the nest and looked down. Kyto's scales flashed in the sunlight. Stretching his wings, he flapped them once, twice, rising off the ground slowly. Although he was far below them, his black eyes glittered clearly. He stared at the sparkling line of fairies rising to the second star on the right and bellowed his threat.

"He's coming," Clarion said softly.

"We can't get away in time," Vidia said.

She blinked.

No, Vidia knew she could get away. She might be the last fairy alive, but she would get away.

And all the other fairies would be dead.

"You can't fly fast enough," she whispered to the queen. "He'll be here in a moment."

"No," Clarion said, shaking her head. "There's still a chance."

Tearing her gaze from Kyto, she met Vidia's look. There was no anger. Only wide eyed sadness ringed red from crying and dark circles from waking up too early.

"Vidia...you're faster than I am. I've never admitted it, but you're faster. You always have been."

A cold hand gripped Vidia's heart. She knew what Clarion was about to ask. Her hand went to the pouch at her side.

"I know we're small," Clarion said, "but can you get his attention? Can you distract him for a few minutes?"

Vidia watched Kyto growing larger as he came closer. He was as big as an elephant. She was a little over six inches. She might annoy him for a moment, but to fly close enough to get him to chase her? That was if she avoided his breath, his flames, his claws, the whip of his long tail...

If she succeeded, the fairies would make it to the mainland. All but her. All the fairies who couldn't understand her heart's longing for speed, who condemned her ruthlessness to be the fastest, who were suspicious of a fairy who spent all her time alone, apart even from her talent--they would survive.

They didn't mind her so much when they needed her. When they reached the mainland, they wouldn't know what she had done. They wouldn't notice she wasn't there, except maybe Prilla. And when Clarion told them, would they care?

As she watched her death coming for her on scaled wings, she imagined what her life might have been like if all her little wishes had been real.

"I'll want fresh dust after this," she demanded. "I'll use all mine up, so I'll want new feathers."

Clarion nodded once. "You'll have them."

"And my own tree again," Vidia continued. "On the other side of Pixie Hollow. And no sending fairies after me. I'll deliver your messages when I feel like it."

"As you wish."

"And you have to race me in the next games, so I can show everyone I really am the fastest."

"Of course."

"Extra dust every day."

"Yes."

"Plum tarts delivered to me."

"All right."

Kyto was very close now. A few more heaves of his wings and he'd be able to scorch the lowest fairies. Vidia yanked her fresh dust from her belt and dumped it all over herself. Power surged through her. She glowed brighter than the sun.

"And you'll never get angry at me ever again," she whispered.

"I promise."

Vidia stretched her wings. The edges were torn from brushing thorns and leaves when she flew at top speed. If she had any advantage, it was that Kyto was still sore and stiff from living in a cage. He wasn't as nimble as a fairy.

"Goodbye, Clarion."

Without waiting for her reply, Vidia flew straight towards Kyto. Seeing her lonely charge, he laughed, a deep growling sound in his throat, and opened his mouth. Flames rolled out to meet her.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

Vidia used the hot burst of dragonfire to blow her out of its way, riding the sudden thermal to one side. She hoped her wings weren't singed, but she would've tumbled out of the sky if they had. More likely the fire had reached well behind her to turn the last fairies in line to ash. There was no time to turn and look.

A pained roar deafened her and rumbled in her chest. As she clamped her hands over her ears, she turned in midflight and flew backward, watching as Kyto came to a halt in the air. His broad leather wings flapped hard and his tail swished furiously. He turned, rubbing his eyes with the back of his scaled forearms, and golden grains of sand fell like tears.

Pixie dust, Vidia thought. Pixie dust got in his eyes.

Did dust do that to all dragons? She knew humans could use it, but maybe to Kyto, something in the magic of her dust didn't agree with something in his own magic. Maybe to him, it was just like getting a handful of real dust in his eyes.

Lowering his claws, Kyto glared through red, irritated eyes and spotted her glow in the grey morning sky. For an instant, she had his attention. His wings flapped once, twice to keep him aloft, and then he opened his jaws again.

She veered hard as the flame came at her, diving at an angle and just skirting the edge of his fire breath. Hot thermals blasted her sideways, out of range of those terrible wings that could break her with one hit. She tumbled and found her balance again, figuring out how to fly around him.

She had just steadied herself when his tail passed overhead. He wasn't stopping to bother with her, not when there was a candy feast of fairies before him.

What do to, what to do?--her mind flew as fast as her wings. Nothing came to mind. A fairy couldn't stop a dragon. She didn't dare fly close enough to his face to try to blind him again. She flew behind him, zooming along his back. He didn't just dwarf her. Each of his scales was almost as big as her, gleaming red with power and magic. What use was one fairy--?

Wait, she thought, he isn't all red.

Vidia spotted a sparkle of gold from under one of his scales. Zipping in close, she found a gold coin caught in his hide, and not just one but several scattered here and there. She caught the edge of a scale and reached under, and the extra pixie dust pouring off of her coated the coin and made it float. As she wrenched it free, she fell backwards clutching the coin.

"Kyto!" she screamed, hovering in the air. "Kyto, you worthless lizard--I have your hoard!"

Her voice was tiny. Fairy sized. Desperation and fear made her words louder, but only because the wind carried her voice along did Kyto hear her.

The dragon was a lunge from the slowest fairy when he jerked to a stop. His head whipped around as he glared in hate at her and the coin. Of his thousands of treasures and coins, he recognized that one piece in her hands. It was smaller than a single one of his claws and should have been insignificant compared to the rest of his treasure. But Kyto was a dragon, and dragons are greedy.

"Give it back," he growled. Flames curled out of his mouth.

With his eyes locked on her, she couldn't speak. The words choked in her throat. His body blocked out the sun, looming like a mountain over her. She flew backwards and clung to the coin like a lifeline. He wouldn't swallow her if she was holding it, would he?

Roaring, he came at her with maddened eyes and blooded fangs thrust forward.

She screamed and fell like a stone, feeling as if fear had gummed up her wings. She felt Kyto above her, felt the air growing heavier and heavier, and if she didn't fly faster then she would be squashed and nothing would be left but a faintly glowing coin.

She darted left, changing direction so suddenly that Kyto overshot her and had to waste seconds flapping hard to catch up. It was a trick she used while racing dragonflies, but only when she was tired and on her last reserves. She shouldn't have needed the trick for hours yet, not covered in this much fresh dust.

"Faster, faster, faster," she ordered herself, trying to trick away her fear. "He's just an oversized dragonfly."

And if she didn't look behind herself and ignored the smoldering heat that kept swooping closer, she could trick herself into believing it.

Every time he came close enough to breathe fire, she turned again, using her tiny size as her only advantage. He was surprisingly fast. If she had thought she would survive this, she knew she would've had nightmares about it.

She darted down for a second, then straight up, and her maneuver nearly plowed Kyto into the flowery field. He saved himself by nimbly swinging his tail under himself and slicing the tulip blossoms neatly from their stems, but the move gave her a few more seconds and saved her life as shock brought her to a standstill.

From this angle she could see the glowing line of fairies in the sky, and it had barely moved. Had the chase really only lasted a moment?

Kyto's frustration made him try to breathe fire instead of suck her in with a sharp breath. She heard the spark of flame and flew off again, sprinting out of reach.

Flying in the field would only get her killed faster, she thought. She had to slow him down somehow. Knowing her idea could kill her, too, she charged into the forest, flying so fast that the trees turned into a blur that was smashed to pieces as Kyto followed at her wingtips.

She'd never flown so fast through the forest. A twig struck at this speed would crush her crystal-delicate bones. A thorn would rip her in half. Just clipping a leaf would send her spinning or shred her wings.

None of those fears slowed her down. Now that her wings were warmed up, she kept evenly ahead of Kyto as he crashed through every tree trunk and branch in his way. She didn't think of how much it would hurt to see her favorite racing courses destroyed and didn't wonder if the animals had run away or were hiding and dying around her. For now, all she cared about was winning this race.

"I can do this," she thought, zipping under an acorn, a hanging vine and a low bunch of leaves in the time it took to think it. "I can do this all day--"

Kyto's fire jetstreamed toward her, so close that her back felt scalded without being touched. She dropped down before realizing that ducking wouldn't work, and as she veered left, she avoided a spider's web and the tall grass by sheer luck. She had thought that Kyto would take longer to catch up through all the trees between them, but instead the dragon caught the biggest tree trunks in his claws and used them to pivot, slingshotting himself even faster.

She had no choice. The forest was no advantage either. Vidia shot up through the canopy of leaves and changed direction, hoping he wouldn't spot her immediately.

He ripped a hole in the trees and looked around, seeing a tiny sparkle of pixie dust to his left. He roared and continued the chase.

Vidia clutched the coin tighter and knew this was it. She didn't have to worry about growing too exhausted to fly. He would eat her long before that happened. All she could do was fly as far as she could from the rest of the fairies so that more of them could get away when he devoured her.

Her sour plum tree was in sight. All alone on its cliffside perch, it stood among tangleweeds and sprinting thistles, as inhospitable and unwelcoming as she could make it look. In a moment, she would fly past it and Kyto would obliterate it with his wings.

Tears pricked her eyes. She couldn't bear that. At least she could be dead before that happened, before her lonely sanctuary was destroyed.

She angled down, following the cliff's wall to the ocean, flying above the cold spray as the waves beat the rocks. The watery chill cut away Kyto's burning heat that smoldered over his scales, and the roar of the water drowned out his bellows. The icy ocean was a pleasant mercy.

When she spotted the dark shape neat the waterline, her heart lifted. A cave she hadn't seen before--she'd never cared to fly this way, always afraid of getting her wings wet. Wet wings meant that she would drown, but wasn't that preferable to burning to ash?

She didn't have the luxury of timing her flight to avoid the waves that rolled around the cave, but speed and a little extra curve on her turn let her slip in between the white crests of water. Spray damped her wings, but they dried off quickly as her wings hummed.

There was no way to tell how far this cave went. Her glow and the flames spilling over Kyto's jaws were the only light, and she dodged dripping stalactites and falling drops of water, sometimes rolling hard on one side so that her wings missed the jutting stone.

The cave was closing in. The ocean hadn't cut this cave far and the rough walls were cramping tighter and tighter. Kyto filled the cave behind her, and his terrible red glow swallowed her light. Just moments now...

Her last conscious thought was of blinding white sunlight and a blast of air that drowned every noise, and then everything was dark.

~

Clarion saw Vidia and Kyto enter the cave. As the queen, she should have been too far ahead to see the chase, but she couldn't bear flying in front of any fairy, and so she was the tail end of the trail. If Vidia died while distracting the dragon, Clarion would have followed soon after.

From this height, she couldn't see something as small as a fairy. She had to watch Kyto and judge from his missed snaps and clumsy turns what direction Vidia had turned. The race was almost too fast to judge even from the sky. Watching the forest crumple in broad rows and ignite in patches, seeing the animals fleeing from the edges, made her heart ache, but every inch of ruined land was an inch that Vidia was still alive.

And then the way Kyto burst up suddenly from the green cover had frozen her in a spike of horror. Had he swallowed her mean tempered fairy so quickly? No, he'd turned and set off again in a moment, and then disappeared at the cliff.

Not thinking of her own safety, Clarion flew closer to see. For a second, she'd thought Kyto had flown straight into the ocean--only as she descended did she see the dark hole of the cave. Long seconds went by until she could no longer bear not knowing.

Desperation drove her the rest of the way down. The early morning left her cold, and the waves sent up spray that chilled the air worse. She hugged herself and edged as close as she dared, waiting for a sound, a sign, anything.

There was nothing. She looked down the coastline to see if the cave opened up anywhere, but the miles of rocky terrain were barren and jagged.

"Do you see her?"

Clarion seized up tight and her hands dug into her arms. As she gasped for breath, she glared at the fairy who had snuck up behind her. Rhia didn't notice the glare. She stared with wide eyes over Clarion's shoulder at the cave.

And not just Rhia. It seemed like half of the Hollow had followed Clarion here, and the rest of them were slowly noticing and trickling back from the sky. The queen groaned, but there was no way she could speak loud enough to order them all to keep evacuating. Even if she could, if Kyto burst out of the cliff, none of them could outfly him anyway.

"Is she still okay?" Fawn asked.

"She could've been squished," Iridessa blurted, then quailed as her friends gave her the exasperated looks she was used to. "Or not?"

"Those caves don't go forever," Myka, a scout talent fairy, said. "We've mapped some of them. They all stop somewhere."

"So Vidia would be trapped," Iridessa said. "And so would Kyto."

"But how would we know?" Fawn asked. "I don't want to go down in there."

More and more fairies gathered around, and as the seconds turned to minutes and nothing happened, some offered ways to find out and others shot those ideas down.

"The light talents could go look."

"No way--we'd get lost!"

"We have maps."

"They'll take too long to fetch."

"The animal talents could ask a fish to go see."

"No fish wants to swim into a scary cave."

"A scout could look? They already went in before to map the caves."

"We mapped them when there wasn't a dragon inside."

"He might be dead."

"He might not be dead."

Prilla arrived in the middle of the conversation and pieced together what they were talking about. Kyto and Vidia had flown inside, neither had come out, and no one had seen or heard anything else. She listened a little longer, than quietly backed away from the crowd. Sometimes not being completely a fairy made her do things other fairies wouldn't dream of doing.

She left the glowing throng of fairies at the cliff's edge and flew down toward the cave. She didn't want to go in either, so she first moved along the cliff to see if the cave came out anywhere.

Dozens of tiny dark holes dotted the rough stone, but none of them were very big. Most of them had bird nests inside, emptied quickly when Kyto escaped, and many chicks cheeped feebly in the cold air. She swallowed once. She'd been so busy worrying about herself and Vidia that she hadn't even thought about the animals.

Still flying, she came around the corner where the cliff opened up into a broad bay where the pirates often landed. And she stopped.

Kyto was stuck fast in the cliff.

He was still awake, straining and whumping and breathing weak fire in all directions in an temper tantrum that scorched the nearby boulders. The sand in front of him turned to glass, but he could do nothing about the stone pressed tightly on him. It looked like part of the cave had collapsed on him, and if that splash of red was anything to go by, at least one of his wings was broken and pinned.

Kyto wasn't just stuck. He was trapped as well as before.

She flew a little closer. Already worn out from his escape and chase, these last struggles wore out what little strength he had left. As he let his head collapse on the sand, he breathed out a disgusted sigh and relaxed.

Careful not to come near those jaws, she landed on the beach and looked around. Red scales littered the sand. She reasoned that they must have been knocked off when he hit the stone and then realized that the hole hadn't always been there. He'd punched his way through.

The beach was a vast field to the fairy. She hovered to cover more ground faster, trying to spot something beside a sea of red scales. They were so big that if they were in a pile, she worried that perhaps Vidia might be buried underneath--

No, there she was, Prilla thought when she saw the scrap of purple on the sand. She landed by Vidia, who lay on the damp waterline, perilously close to the rising tide. She frowned. Vidia didn't look dead, but she lay curled tight with her hands fisted near her face.

Prilla looked down at her friend's wings. Tattered beyond recognition, the edges were singed and curled from Kyto's sheer heat. She touched Vidia's shoulder and winced at how flushed her skin was. Prilla's hand left a white mark on the reddened surface.

"Are you alive?" she asked, whispering in her ear.

Vidia didn't answer, but she shivered and curled tighter, blocking out the whole world. Prilla glanced at Kyto, who didn't even notice them, then put her arms under Vidia and hauled her up. Her friend was taller than she was, making her stumble backwards, but the fast flying fairy was lighter than a feather, too. The chase hadn't used up all of her fresh dust, and the gold coin in her hands was light, too. Prilla tried to nudge it out of Vidia's grasp, but her friend wouldn't let go of the deathgrip she held on it.

Prilla carried her away from Kyto and back to the queen. The other fairies had spread out along the cliff, gingerly looking for peepholes in, but the queen was easy to spot. She was the only fairy not zipping in every direction.

As Prilla came closer, fairies started to notice her and who she carried. Whispers flew, shouts followed to other fairies who couldn't hear over the waves, and then Prilla found herself in the middle of a crowd as she approached Clarion. The fairies murmured back and forth, wondering where Prilla had found her and if they were all safe again.

"Is she...?" Clarion whispered. She put out her hand but didn't quite touch Vidia's shoulder, shying back when she saw the fading handprint on her shoulder.

"She's hurt," Prilla said. "What do we do?"

"Kyto," Clarion said, disgusted with herself that she had to ask about the dragon before anything else. "Is he alive?"

"He's stuck in the rocks," Prilla said, staring at her with wide eyes. "Please, Queen Ree, you have to save her."

At her words, Clarion's confidence rushed back on her at once. To save Vidia meant managing the fairies expertly, and that was what she was best at. She held out her hands to catch everyone's attention.

"All fairies," she called out. "Heed my voice. Healer talents, take Vidia back and spare no effort for her. She is the only reason we are all alive today. Dust talents, replace what we took and make sure the healers have all that they want and more. Baking talent fairies--Dulcie, especially you..."

While the queen continued giving commands, Aloe and Salvia, two healing talents, came and gently collected Vidia out of Prilla's arms. With expert fingers, they slipped the coin from her hands and gave it to Prilla, who had no idea what to do with it. As the healers hastily rubbed a burn salve on Vidia's skin, a third fairy, Bethesda, covered her with one of their cloaks to shield her from the wind.

"She's starting to shiver," Bethesda explained to Prilla. "A burn can do that, but she doesn't look too bad. I think she'll even keep her wings."

Instead of being reassured, Prilla bit her lip. The tiniest chance that Vidia might lose her wings--that would be worse than actually dying for the fast flier. She clutched the coin tight and followed at their heels.

The way from Vidia's sour plum tree back to the Hollow had always felt a little long to Prilla. Now it felt like the field of scorched flowers and charred trees would never end. The bright colors and the strips of gray ash blurred, and she didn't notice that they had flown into the healers' wing of the Home Tree until she bumped her head on a foxglove lamp in the ceiling.

"Pay attention," Bethesda said softly, steering her to the back of the room. "You can stay, but you have to keep out of the way."

Prilla nodded and sat down on the acorn chair in the corner, watching them ease Vidia onto a bed of cotton fluff and coax her to straighten out and lie flat. Her blackened top and skirt crumbled at the touch. Vidia didn't wake up as they wrapped her arms and legs in petal bandages, and then nudged her on her stomach and patched up her back. Her wings they left to heal on their own, adding a touch of Wing Repair to help the process along. A water talent fairy brought in a basin of water, and Salvia filled a cup and gave the sleeping Vidia a drink, gently easing the water down her throat.

With that, the healing talents left the room, giving Prilla stern orders to come get them if Vidia woke up but that it was best to let her sleep. They closed the door after themselves, but Prilla knew they hadn't abandoned her when they left the door slightly ajar and looked in every few minutes.

Prilla watched attentively for awhile, but as time passed and Vidia continued to sleep, she gave up and picked up the chair, standing it it by the bedside. As she plopped back down, she set the coin under the bed and then settled down for a long wait.


	5. Chapter 5

Kyto survived on fish that came close with the tide and carrion birds that thought he was dead. Most of his body lay within the sea cave, constantly washed by the cold waves, and his head and wings lay on the sand, now melted into smooth glass anywhere his fiery breath could reach.

Vidia was careful not to get closer than the edge of the glass.

Her wings were still torn and curled. Bethesda and Salvia had both warned her against flying so soon, but Vidia lived in the air. The best she could do was slow down and fly low to the ground so she wouldn't break something when her wings gave out. And they always did. Her shoulders would grow sore, her back would ache, and she would drop to the dirt, continuing on foot.

At least she had Prilla's gift of a pair of purple slippers to match her skirt. Vidia didn't usually wear shoes, and this journey would have been harder without them.

It would have been a lot easier without the gold coin in her hands, too, even with the fairy dust to make the coin lighter.

Finally she reached the sea cliff and looked over the edge. Kyto still lay beneath, pinned by heavy stones. Vidia took a deep breath and jumped off the cliff, slowing her fall with her weary wings. She landed on her feet just outside the circle of glass, and she kept a close eye on the dragon.

He already had his eyes on her. His gaze was murderous but that didn't surprise her. Of course he would stare at her. He noticed everything on the beach, and she held one of the coins of his hoard. In anticipation, he panted a little heavier, but not much. He couldn't breathe too deeply with the stones pressing on him.

She waited to make sure he wouldn't breathe fire, then put the coin on the glass.

"I came to return this," she said.

Pushing as hard as she could, she shoved the coin across the glass. It slid easily to his snout, and to her surprise, his right front claws came from out of sight, curled around the coin, and dragged it back into the darkness of the smashed cave. So he could move a little, if only to snatch prey.

Her look flitted to his wings. They looked like two tents smashed into flat angles, like cloth stretched across broken wire. Even if he ever escaped again, she didn't think he would fly. The thought made her sick in sympathy. If he had died, that would have been all right, but to have him trapped here, miserable and knowing he would never get off the ground again...

If their positions were changed, if she was the one buried under rock, Vidia knew she would have hoped at least one more clumsy child in the world stopped believing in fairies.

Now that he had his coin back, Kyto no longer bothered to look at her. He stared at the sea and waited for another fish to come near.

She watched him for a moment, then looked around the beach. The waves were calm, the sand gleamed like gold scattered with rubies. It was almost a substitute for Kyto's treasure hoard.

Vidia looked again. Rubies? Glittery red dots lined the beach as far as she could see, and she fluttered to the closest one. It was half her size, shaped like a crescent moon, with a faint sheen on one side. She hefted it up so she could take a close look at it, then glanced at Kyto. Sure enough, if she studied his sides and back, she noticed spots missing in his hide.

The crash against the cave wall had knocked hundreds of scales loose so that they littered the beach like sea shells.

A thought struck her. The idea was mad, she told herself--it would never work. But she looked down at the scale again and wondered. Magic helped Kyto fly despite his weight. And magic helped fairies to fly. As tiny as they were, their flimsy wings still needed pixie dust to carry them.

"Vidia! What are you doing down there?"

Tucking the scale under one arm, Vidia looked up and waved once at Prilla, who carefully flew along the edge of the cliff face. Before Prilla could land, though, Vidia extended her hand to her.

"Help me up to the top," Vidia said. "I have an idea I have to test."

"With that scale?"

Prilla reached down and grasped Vidia's hand, then began flying up. Vidia helped, but her wings could only counteract her weight, making her float. Prilla gently took her to the top of the cliff, and from there they alternated between flying and walking.

"If I'm right," Vidia said, "then I may not have to demand those feathers from Clarion."

"Queen Ree already gave you lots of dust, right?" Prilla asked, noticing the bulging bag at Vidia's belt. "She kept her promise so far."

"They'll never pluck Mother Dove for me," Vidia said. "She just made those promises when she thought I'd be dead."

"Vidia..." Prilla murmured.

"At least I have endless dust, though," Vidia said. "My wings will be back to normal in no time."

Prilla looked at the curled and ragged edges of her wings and nodded once. They were much better than they had been when she first found her on the beach. After a week of sleeping and healing, they had regained most of their firmness and shine. All that remained was reminding them that they were strong and that their edges shouldn't look like a burnt leaf.

When they reached the sour plum tree, Prilla took her usual seat on the foot of the bed while Vidia knelt and pulled out her mortar and pestle from under the mattress. The mortar was just a flat stone with a dent in the middle, while the pestle was only a smooth pebble Vidia could hold to roll against the mortar. The last time she had used it was to grind Mother Dove's feathers into dust.

This time she lay the scale on the stone.

The stone screeched and scraped, and tiny bits of the scale flaked off at a time. With her hands pressed firmly over her ears, Prilla watched with interest as Vidia worked. The process took a long time, especially with something as hard as a scale. Vidia had to scatter a handful of pixie dust over the stone to make it easier to wear the scale down.

At first Prilla thought the mortar was glowing red, but when she looked closer, she found fine grains of dust beneath Vidia's pebble.

"You think it'll work like pixie dust?" Prilla asked over the grating noise.

Vidia grinned and ran her finger over the stone, coating her fingertip in dust that glittered gold and red, gold for the pixie, red for the dragon. She lightly touched it to her tongue.

"Not pixie dust," Vidia said. "Dragon dust."

Prilla wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but if it meant Vidia didn't try to pluck Mother Dove's feathers again, then it was at least worth trying.

The rest of the afternoon passed with Prilla fetching two more scales and then flying to the Home Tree and the dining hall to fetch dinner. Prilla piled a plate high with the last of the plum tarts and quince tarts and cupcakes of raspberry and chocolate. A kettle of tea was already waiting for her, along with two cups that easily fit over the kettle's spout. Usually taking dishes from the dining hall was simply not done, but Prilla had special approval to take anything she needed.

Prilla wondered if she could take an entire tray of tarts, but she didn't want to push it.

"Prilla!" Tinkerbell yelled.

Startled, Prilla jerked the plate up, and several tarts went into the air. She gasped--out went her hand and one, two, three--she caught them back on the plate. She sighed in relief.

"Wow," Tinkerbell said as she flew closer. "Vidia's speed is rubbing off on you."

Prilla smiled despite blushing pink. "Um, not really. I just--"

"So tell us," Rosetta said, coming up beside her. "Are her wings still melted?"

"Can she really fly at all?" Iridessa asked. She looked around with a big smile at the crowd of fairies growing around Prilla. "I heard from Silvermist that heard from Fira that heard from Lily that Vidia was flying under the flowers. Under, just think!"

That set the fairies nodded and commenting that Vidia never flew under the flowers, preferring to soar over them, and what must be going through the proud fairy's mind. Did she try to float when she stood still, or was she stuck walking? Was she avoiding everyone because she was ashamed she couldn't fly anymore? Did she sit in bed all day and order Prilla around?

With all the talking, Prilla made a weak "she's getting better" comment and flew backwards out of the throng. They continued gossiping without her, and Prilla zipped out of the Home Tree and back into the night.

Light talent fairies kept the branches aglow and scout talents kept a watch out for owls that occasionally preyed on fairies, but the farther Prilla flew, the darker and lonelier Neverland became. The moon was just a crescent, barely giving any light at all, and her own pixie dust made her stand out. She flew under the flowers to give her some cover, but all the blossoms were closed up for the night.

Vidia's home looked welcoming when she couldn't see the sprinting thistles or tangleweed. She darted through the swinging doors just as she heard feathers rustling close by, and she leaned against the wall and breathed out in relief. Owls and hawks were too slow to catch Vidia, but the local birds were starting to notice Prilla's slower flying near the tree.

When she heard Prilla come in, Vidia sighed and leaned back from her work. She'd nearly finished half of a second scale, and the pile on the stone was red with flecks of gold here and there. Breathing deep, Vidia caught the strands of hair that had come out of her ponytail and tucked them back in place.

"You should've left the tea," Vidia scolded her, but there was no anger in her voice. "It slows you down."

"The other fairies said I'm getting faster," Prilla said, setting the dishes down on the floor. She served the tea and then stretched out on the leaf rug and started devouring the quince tarts.

"The other fairies couldn't outfly a moth," Vidia said, picking up her own plum tart.

Deciding a subject change was in order, Prilla nodded her head at the dragon dust, taking her off acorn hat as it slipped sideways on her head.

"How long does it take to grind dust like that?" Prilla asked. "The pile's so small."

Vidia glanced at the stone and sighed again.

"Scales are harder than feathers. I'll probably have to work all day to get enough to replace my fresh dust."

Prilla looked at the chest at the foot of Vidia's bed. "Enough to fill that?"

"Mm-hmm."

Thinking that Vidia was wasting her time, Prilla frowned at the red and gold pile.

"Is it okay to get pixie dust in it? It looks like there's pixie dust all mixed in."

"Can't help it," Vidia said. "I have to use pixie dust to make the mortar work. Otherwise I'd just make scratches on the scale."

Vidia noticed Prilla's skeptical look and shook her head with a smile.

"You just didn't notice the regular stuff in my fresh dust. I had to mix it with the feathers, too."

But the fresh dust and pixie dust came from the same source, Prilla thought. She didn't say it out loud. If the dragon dust worked, it didn't matter, and if the dragon dust didn't work, Vidia would stop gathering scales.

They ate in silence. Prilla disappeared once when she felt a tug to the mainland, doing a cartwheel in the air for a clumsy child that clapped his hands when he saw her. She popped back after a moment, and Vidia gave her a wry smile and continued finishing dinner.

The quiet evening was a nice change, Prilla thought. No questions about where she went or what she saw. The mainland was a rush of sounds and darker colors and strange things she didn't understand, and returning in the middle of a bunch of fairies left her head spinning with their excited curiosity.

When the last tart was finished, Prilla moved to pick up the dishes. Instead Vidia touched her hand, stopping her.

"You shouldn't go back tonight," Vidia said. "The owls'll be looking for you this time. You won't make it."

"Oh." Prilla didn't try to argue. "Then where should I sleep?"

"My bed's more than big enough," Vidia said. "Just shove the dishes in a corner. We can clean up in the morning."

"I guess it is kind of late," Prilla said. "You aren't going to keep making dust, are you? I don't think I can sleep through that."

"Like you said, it's late." Vidia climbed into bed, claiming her scented pillow and her favorite side, and kicked her shoes off the side onto the floor. She carefully positioned herself, laying her head on the small pillow and curling up with just the right amount of the mossy blanket, and closed her eyes.

Prilla followed a moment later, leaving her acorn hat on the rug and adding her own shoes and belt to the pile. The bed really was wide enough, and Prilla stared at the dripping petals of the canopy and the stars outside the door. She supposed living out here had its risks, but it was quiet and the moon and stars weren't drowned out by the light talents constantly keeping the tree glowing.

Best of all, she was glad that Vidia had taken the scented pillow. Prilla couldn't stand putting her head on those things for very long. The darn thing was too small. But the huge, fluffy pillow in the back was perfect.

~

A month had passed since Kyto's escape and imprisonment, and the queen had a duty to visit his cage every year, to inspect it and make sure everyone was safe. Queen Clarion didn't feel too confident of these inspections, not after the dragon had escaped his old cage, but it was one of her royal duties and she had no choice.

"We'll need a team of six mice," Rhia said, making a note of it on her leafpad. "Cinda, could you go ask the animal talents to bring us some? And Liesel, we'll need enough dust for all those mice and the carriage."

The two fairies nodded and added the errands to their growing list of things to do. Clarion turned from their planning and went to the mirror, straightening her crown. There was no need for her to help. They had done this every year for more years than she could count. It seemed so silly to arrange the carriage and mice and entourage when Kyto was no more than a few fields away, but it was tradition.

The startled gasps and cries of her helper-talents made Clarion turn from her reflection, following their looks to the balcony. She didn't gasp, but she froze for a moment.

Vidia sat on the balcony rail, smiling at their discomfort. Her pixie glow was not golden but faint red. She held a gold coin in both hands.

"Vidia?" Clarion whispered. "What happened to you?"

"I came to tell you that I won't need those feathers you promised me," Vidia said sweetly. "And that I won't be carrying messages for you for awhile."

"You're glowing red," Clarion said, moving close enough to touch Vidia's hand and surprised to find it cool.

"Dragon scales," Vidia said. "I ground them up for dust."

"What? Oh no..." Clarion breathed, shaking her head. "You don't know what those might do to you. The magic's different--"

"It's stronger," Vidia nodded.

Clarion's worry didn't fade, and Vidia sighed and gave an impatient toss of her head.

"I'll be fine." Vidia adjusted the coin in her grip before it slid from her fingers. "I don't have scales or breathe fire. It's just like fresh dust."

"Vidia," Clarion tried one more time. "You don't need more dust or different dust. Why can't you be happy being as fast as you are already?"

A question that Vidia had heard more than once. She always wondered why everyone kept asking her, especially when it felt so obvious to her. She understood it on the day she watched her best friend step away from the group of fast flying talents to the center of the Home Tree, accepting the crown and the immense power that the Home Tree gave to its queen, making her outshine the rest of the fairies.

"The same reason you accepted the crown," Vidia said. "You wanted it."

"The crown chose me," Clarion said softly.

"You could have refused," Vidia said. "If you really wanted, you could put it down now, right now, and let it choose someone else."

Clarion sighed and turned slightly away. Although years had passed since the last time they had this argument, too many years to count, she knew it would always end in stalemate. She decided not to go through it again.

"Why do you have a gold coin?" she asked, changing the subject.

Vidia hesitated before dropping the old argument. She always lost it anyway, but she kept holding out hope that one day Clarion would actually take off the crown.

"...I'm taking it to Kyto."

"One coin? Or his whole hoard?"

"All of it," Vidia said.

When Clarion didn't ask why, Vidia didn't explain. She didn't have to. Although they hadn't spoken as friends for a long time, they still understood each other. The hoard would at least ease the dragon's pain. After all, Kyto couldn't even hope to fly, and Vidia felt that pain as if it were her own. It was the same reason she couldn't stand being near Rani, who had willingly sacrificed her wings.

There was nothing else to say. Vidia flitted away again, carrying the coin to Kyto in a few heartbeats, then racing back to his old cave for another one. Moving the meager hoard would take her weeks if not months, but after enough trips, Kyto looked less miserable as he lay on a pile of soft gold instead of cold stone.

And every night when the sun set and Vidia returned to her sour plum tree, she settled beside Prilla on one of the branches and shared tea and pastries as they watched the moon drift across the sky.

end


End file.
